


Seeing you again

by MerlinSpecter



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Awkwardness, Clumsiness, Feels, First Kiss, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Mutual Pining, Romance, Shyness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 10:31:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14400273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MerlinSpecter/pseuds/MerlinSpecter
Summary: " 'I didn’t forget, you know, about you kissing me.' Nico said, a tiny smile playing on his lips. Esteban was struggling to read him as the familiar panic came back in his chest. Was Nico asking for more? Or was he making fun of him?"Or, Esteban runs into Nico after carefully avoiding him for a long time, but this time, the German isn't going to let go of him so easily





	Seeing you again

Esteban worried his lip between his teeth as he walked over the paddock. It was all still scarily familiar to him, so familiar it felt weird being nervous here, but he just couldn’t help it. He had actually been doing just fine until he had spotted a very familiar mop of blonde hair in the distance, which had caused him to panic and hide in a corner until Hulk was finally out of his sight again.

He had realised that seeing Nico again might be a little awkward, but he hadn’t expected the surge of both pain and desire that ran through him the moment he laid eyes on the German.

Esteban sighed, wiping a hand over his face. He repressed a shudder when he thought about what he and Nico could have been, had Esteban not been such a coward. It didn’t take a genius to see Nico had been interested in Esteban in more than a teammate kind of way, but the Mexican had somehow still been unsure. How could someone as handsome as Nico even fall for a dork like himself?

And then there was that kiss, some time after Esteban had left Formula 1 altogether. They had bumped into each other on the airport, both their flights delayed. Nico had dragged Esteban off to one of the nearly deserted coffee shops in the far corner of the departure hall, and Esteban had enjoyed spending time with his former teammate after his initial shock. He felt almost sad when his flight was announced to start boarding, getting up to awkwardly smile at Nico, suddenly feeling shy again. 

“It was nice to see you again, Nico.” it felt good to say his name, felt more intimate in a way that Esteban couldn’t quite put his finger on. Nico grinned back, getting up as well.

“Nice to see you too Guti.” he winked, Esteban wrinkling up his nose a little at the nickname. Nico reached out for him, clearly going in for a hug, but Esteban, in his awkward and sleep-deprived state, had thought Nico wanted to kiss him. So instead of hugging him like any other normal, non-awkward Mexican would have done, Esteban tilted his head up, his lips brushing over Nico’s soft ones. 

When he had felt Nico huff in surprise against his lips and had finally woken up enough to realise Nico had, in fact, not been leaning in to kiss him, Esteban had stumbled back from him, grabbed his suitcase and all but fled off towards his gate, not daring to look back at Nico.

Esteban inwardly cursed his own inability at any kind of social convention as he glanced around the rather busy paddock, trying to blend in as best he could so he wouldn’t attract too much attention, hoping that that way Nico wouldn’t realise he was there until after the weekend. Sadly, Esteban didn’t even seem to succeed at that.

Perhaps, if he just hadn’t spilled coffee all down his shirt, Nico wouldn’t have found him in one of the bathrooms, his shirt discarded so he could check the reddened skin of his chest and stomach, poking at it with a cold, damp towel.

“Guti?” Esteban let out an embarrassingly high squeak and dropped the towel on the floor, hitting his head on the sink when he bend down to pick it up. 

“Are you okay? I didn’t mean to scare you.” Nico said with an amused smile, steadying him by holding on to his forearm. Esteban blushed bright red.

“I.. Yes, sorry, is okay.” He tried his best to give Nico a nonchalant smile in return, but a quick glance in the mirror told him it was more of a grimace. He could feel his heart hammer in his chest as Nico stepped close until they were practically chest to chest, a smirk on his face. 

Chest… Esteban made another embarrassing noise as he realised he was still quite shirtless in front of the German. He reached back to grab the shirt, shakily trying to figure out where the sleeves where. Nico stopped him with a gentle hand on his wrist. 

“You sure you’re okay?” Nico said softly, the hand not grasping Esteban’s hand trailing over the red skin of his torso, making the Mexican shudder. Esteban licked his lips unconsciously as Nico stood near him, towering over him in an all too familiar way that made Esteban’s heart flutter.

“I’m okay…” Esteban said hoarsely, stepping back so he was out of Nico’s reach. In an effort to continue to ignore Nico, he opened the tap, cupping his hand under it to drink some of the cooling liquid, easing his rather dry throat. Straightening up, his breathing hitched when he looked in the mirror, spotting Nico still close behind him. 

He turned to speak, but failed to when Nico stepped even more into his personal space, trapping Esteban between his body and the sink.

“Guti…” Nico’s voice was soft, as well as his eyes, his beautiful blue eyes and that hair, that gorgeous, beautiful… Esteban’s thoughts trailed off as Nico spoke again. 

“Why are you avoiding me?” the German sounded hurt. Esteban blinked in surprise, awkwardly staring at Nico for a moment before he found his voice. 

“N-not avoiding you, just busy with… throwing coffee over myself.” he said lamely, realising he had yet to put his shirt back on. He crossed his arms over his chest, feeling insecure under Nico’s steady gaze.

“Wasn’t talking about just today, Este, you’ve been ignoring me ever since the airport.” Nico said, straightening up and giving Esteban space to finally put his shirt back on. Esteban hurriedly did so, clumsily pushing the glasses back on his nose afterwards.

“Was busy…” he repeated, not even convincing himself with his shaky tone. Nico sighed. 

“I didn’t forget, you know, about you kissing me.” Nico said, a tiny smile playing on his lips. Esteban was struggling to read him as the familiar panic came back in his chest. Was Nico asking for more? Or was he making fun of him? Esteban’s insecurity came back to him full swing and he looked away from Nico, keeping his head down as he tried to walk past the German towards the door in an effort to escape yet another humiliation.

“Este, wait!” Nico said, pulling him close, one arm securely wrapped around Esteban’s waist to keep him in place. Nico was so close that all Esteban had to do was tilt his head back for their lips to meet, which he didn’t. Instead, he settled for stubbornly refusing to look Nico in the eye, staring at Nico’s neck instead, which didn’t make it better at all. 

“Este… why did you run?” Nico said softly, his breath warm against Esteban’s forehead,making Esteban realise how much shorter he was than the German. 

Esteban shook his head, closing his eyes in an effort to block Nico out completely. He felt overwhelmed and was afraid Nico wasn’t feeling the same way, that he would only make fun of him once Este said out loud how he felt. 

“Esteban, I’m going to kiss you know. Tell me to stop if you don’t want me to.” Nico sounded breathless, and Esteban could feel the German’s rapid pulse from where Esteban’s hands were still trapped against Nico’s chest. 

Esteban opened his eyes, glancing up at his former teammate. Nico looked nervous as well, his cheeks flushed slightly. When Esteban didn’t make any moves to pull away, Nico took a deep breath, dipping down to gently press his lips against Esteban’s. Esteban almost choked out a sob at the tender contact, his eyes fluttering closed again as he revelled in the feeling of Nico so close to him, kissing him. Nico’s lips moved against his and Esteban found himself kissing back, his hands moving around Nico’s neck on their own accord in an effort to keep Nico close to him. 

“Guti…” Nico muttered against his lips before pulling away, Esteban whining at the loss, blushing once he realised the noise he had made. Nico chuckled, pressing a kiss to the tip of Esteban’s nose.

“I wanted to kiss you so much sooner, but I was afraid you’d push me away.” Nico whispered.

“I didn’t think anyone like you could ever fall for someone like me, I thought you were teasing me, making fun of me…” Esteban swallowed thickly, shyly glancing away from him. Nico sighed, cupping Esteban’s face between his hands.

“I would never make fun of you.” he said, and Esteban believed him now. The Mexican hesitated only momentarily before moving onto his tiptoes to kiss Nico again. Nico smiled against his lips, still cradling Esteban’s face between his hands. 

They were interrupted by the door to the bathroom opening, an engineer awkwardly staring at the two of them before moving to one of the cubicles. 

“Were just leaving.” Esteban said, a deep blush on his face as he pulled a chuckling Hulk after him. 

“Esteban” Nico said when they were safely outside again. “You sure you didn’t burn yourself too badly?” Esteban shrugged.

“Is okay, doesn’t really hurt anymore.” he said with a small smile. Nico leaned closer to the Mexican, a mischievous look on his face

“Sure? Because I wouldn’t mind taking a closer look at it for you.” Nico purred in his ear. Esteban gave him a rather wide eyes look followed by a well aimed punch to Nico’s arm, but told him the number of his hotel room anyways.


End file.
